Track & Field Preview: Crop of underclassmen should have big impact

A couple of things are readily apparent when looking at the 115 athletes that came out for track & field at Douglas High this spring.

There are a whole lot of underclassmen and a whole lot of girls.

"This is the first year since I've been here that we've had more girls than guys,"

Douglas head coach and boys' team coach Jim Abbott said. "You look out there and the majority of kids are either freshmen or sophomores."

That's not at all saying that this is going to be in anyway a rebuilding year.

"I think last year we were kind of hovering around heading into regionals as a dark horse and I think we're going to be right there again this year," girls' coach Kim Tretton said. "We lost some of our big talent from last year, but people haven't really seen what our freshmen can do.

"Same thing with our sophomores, the ones we had last year have gotten a lot stronger."

Abbott echoed the sentiment.

"This group of underclassmen is very strong," he said. "We're excited to see what they are going to do."

Not to be lost in the talk about the underclassmen, Douglas is returning a solid core of juniors and seniors.

In total, Douglas returns two members of the boys' 4x800 regional title team, five state qualifers and eight school-record holders.

"You look at our girls compared to everyone in the North last week, and it was us and Reno that were the top total points scorers," Abbott said. "We're going to be right in there. There's not as many of our guys, but we have some really strong competitors, just a good, solid group coming in."

It's last weekend's season-opening meet in Minden in part that has Douglas' coaches so excited. The girls' team won the meet, coming in ahead of regional powers Damonte Ranch and Carson, while the boys' team took third.

"We did well, but we are nowhere near the shape we want to be in by the end of the year," Tretton said. "We still have a long way to go."

That's due to a new approach the coaching staff is taking this year in terms of conditioning.

"We decided to take it very slow this year," Tretton said. "Last year, I think our big mistake was that we tried to bring kids along too quickly.

"We battled injuries all year because of it. We're purposfully moving at a slower pace this year to try to combat that. The kids are getting a little ancy, but we'll get there."

The team also started up preseason conditioning much earlier this season, with workouts starting in January.

"Our preseason practices looked like our regular season practices," Abbott said. "We were getting 70 kids out there on some days. The participation was great."

Among the top returners will be be jumpers Kyra Barth, Jessica Gorton, Natasha Brown and Liz Nickles, thrower Jessica Waggoner, distance runners Brad Boyd, James Leonard, Scott Lococo, Corey Trujillo, Taylor Biaggi and Amanda Boyd, pole vaulter Whitney Bullion and sprinters Susie White, Jordan Cruz, Johnny Pollack, Barron Santiago, Ryan Ake, Ryan Atkinsen and Davey Fisher.

"We'll be playing around with the lineup a lot during conference meets," Abbott said. "There are a lot of different ways we can take the relays, a lot of interchangeable parts."

"We're asking a lot of kids to try things they've never tried before too," Tretton said. "We have the best group of kids. I can't say enough about them. They are hard-working, they have great attitudes and they are willing to try new things. We're excited to see what they have."

Leading the strong group of newcomers are freshman sprinter Katie Dry, hurdler/jumper Craig Stratton, Nick Maestretti, distance runners Tia Lyons, Sadie Gastelum and Cara Dunkleman, thrower Jazz Halow, junior jumper/sprinter Corbin Zumpft and an entire freshman 4x100 girls' team of Hallie Niehoff, Brianna Randall, Alexyss Easlick and Shannon Prinz.

"We have so many freshmen out, we're still trying to get them all straight," Tretton said.

Douglas also got a late boost when soccer standouts Ally and Natalie Freitas joined the team a week before the first meet.

The Tigers will host the Big George Invitational on April 25 and the regional trials and championships on May 9 and 16.